Graham Zug

Wide receiver Shawney Kersey had visions of catching touchdown passes and leading his team to victory when he signed with Penn State in February 2009. He just didn't know those experiences would be limited to this spring's Blue-White game. Apparently dissatisfied with his limited playing time with the Nittany Lions, Kersey, a 6-1, 197-pound redshirt freshman from Woodbury, N.J., has asked for his release, which has been granted. He will immediately transfer to another school, according to a report by Lions247.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - The misery for Temple continued yesterday at Penn State. The Owls' 31-6 loss means they have been outscored by 154-9 in the teams' four meetings since Al Golden took over as head coach. They have not scored a touchdown in that time. But Golden, who played at Penn State for Joe Paterno from 1987 to 1991, left Happy Valley somewhat encouraged. "I was pleased," he said. "We're obviously stronger. We're more physical. We had some guys that finished the game.

It wasn't even five minutes into Penn State's fourth spring practice before Pat Devlin's name came up. "Things would have been fine if the guy from your area, Pat Devlin, was here," a university employee, who didn't want to be identified, said to a member of the Philadelphia media. Similar sentiments may come from Nittany Lions fans if Penn State's quarterbacks struggle in Saturday's Blue-White spring game at Beaver Stadium. That's because two inexperienced signal-callers - Kevin Newsome and former walk-on Matt McGloin - are the front-runners to replace the departed Daryll Clark.

After every Penn State game this season, Daily News beat writer Bernard Fernandez will provide Nittany Line Plus with his observations and analysis. Here is his take on Saturday's 35-10 road rout of Michigan. Did you notice . . . -- That senior Daryll Clark's four touchdown passes give him a school-record 55 accounted for, beating the old record of 52 set by Zack Mills from 2001-04? The breakdown: 36 touchdown passes, 19 TD rushes. Not too shabby when you consider that Clark has been a starter for only 21 games while Mills was the top guy under center for four seasons.

STATE COLLEGE - Upset by his team's loss at Alabama on Sept. 11, Penn State coach Joe Paterno responded by turning up the heat in practice the following week. "I had felt that we were not intense enough at practice. So we tried to set a different tone," he said. "Got around in more drills. Pushed some kids, literally threatened a couple of them: 'If you don't start hitting some people a little tougher than what you're doing, I'm going to drop you.' That kind of thing. And I intended to. " Really?

In his final high school football game, Brent Carter gave Penn State fans a preview. Carter, a hard-nosed running back from Pottsgrove High, carried 18 times for 97 yards and a touchdown to help the East knock off the West, 20-14, last night in the sixth annual Pennsylvania Scholastic Football Coaches Association East-West All-Star Game at Mansion Park. "We had a good week of practice and we were real focused from the beginning of the game," said Carter, who gained more than 3,000 yards in his high school career.

HERSHEY, Pa. - Thanks to the struggles of Penn State's two inexperienced quarterbacks in the Blue-White spring game, many members of Nittany Nation are in panic mode, wondering whether the Lions will come up with someone decent under center. But offensive coordinator Galen Hall thinks that either of the two sophomores, Kevin Newsome or Matt McGloin, will have what it takes to gain a starting role in time for the Sept. 4 season opener against Youngstown State. "I think the uncertainty makes it more scary than, obviously, if you had a starter coming back, someone that's had some snaps," Hall said Thursday night before an alumni reception.

After talking about how his final collegiate game was for Penn State and not for how he would be remembered, Daryll Clark went out at crunch time in the Capital One Bowl and gave the Nittany Nation something to remember him by. Clark coolly orchestrated a 12-play, six-minute drive that culminated in Collin Wagner's fourth field goal of the game, a 21-yarder with 57 seconds remaining, and gave the 11th-ranked Nittany Lions a 19-17 victory over...

Before the Penn State players ran out of the tunnel yesterday to open the 2009 football season, Daryll Clark grabbed his untested and unknown band of wide receivers for a pep talk. "I said, 'Look, no one thinks you can do what any of those three guys did,' " the Nittany Lions quarterback said, referring to the graduated trio of Deon Butler, Derrick Williams, and Jordan Norwood, who combined for 132 catches last season. "They put that in the back of their heads. They practiced very, very hard to prove people wrong.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - While Michigan's Denard Robinson burned the Beaver Stadium grass at his feet with his dashing and darting, Penn State's Matt McGloin was cool, composed, and more than competent. McGloin, the former walk-on making his first career start, passed for one touchdown, ran for another, and engineered one of the Nittany Lions' best offensive games of the season Saturday night, leading them to a 41-31 victory over the Wolverines at Beaver Stadium. McGloin, a redshirt sophomore, completed 17 of 28 passes for 250 yards.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - While Michigan's Denard Robinson burned the Beaver Stadium grass at his feet with his dashing and darting, Penn State's Matt McGloin was cool, composed, and more than competent. McGloin, the former walk-on making his first career start, passed for one touchdown, ran for another, and engineered one of the Nittany Lions' best offensive games of the season Saturday night, leading them to a 41-31 victory over the Wolverines at Beaver Stadium. McGloin, a redshirt sophomore, completed 17 of 28 passes for 250 yards.

Can the success of an entire football season hinge on a single early-season possession? Or even a single play? No one can say whether true freshman quarterback Rob Bolden's two clutch third-down completions in the fourth quarter of last week's 22-13 edging of Temple will prove to be the defining moment of his introductory campaign to the college game, or, in a broader sense, of a Penn State season that has yet to come into sharp focus. More evidence should be provided when the 22nd-ranked Nittany Lions (3-1)

STATE COLLEGE - Upset by his team's loss at Alabama on Sept. 11, Penn State coach Joe Paterno responded by turning up the heat in practice the following week. "I had felt that we were not intense enough at practice. So we tried to set a different tone," he said. "Got around in more drills. Pushed some kids, literally threatened a couple of them: 'If you don't start hitting some people a little tougher than what you're doing, I'm going to drop you.' That kind of thing. And I intended to. " Really?

Wide receiver Shawney Kersey had visions of catching touchdown passes and leading his team to victory when he signed with Penn State in February 2009. He just didn't know those experiences would be limited to this spring's Blue-White game. Apparently dissatisfied with his limited playing time with the Nittany Lions, Kersey, a 6-1, 197-pound redshirt freshman from Woodbury, N.J., has asked for his release, which has been granted. He will immediately transfer to another school, according to a report by Lions247.

The most dangerous player on the Penn State offense is also the smallest, a 5-foot-7, 159-pound sophomore who gives opposing defenses the shivers whenever he gets the football in open space. Wide receiver Devon Smith is one of the fastest men ever to play for the Nittany Lions, a one-time secret weapon who isn't such a secret any more. After all, an opponent tends to pay special attention to someone who can run the 40-yard dash in 4.23 seconds, something Temple is sure to do when the Owls travel to Beaver Stadium on Saturday.

When he talks about trying to fire up his team, Joe Paterno tends to get a little fired-up himself. Paterno explained Tuesday that he had wanted to set a more intense tone for Penn State in the days of practice leading up to the game against Kent State, and "pushed some kids, literally threatened a couple of them. " The veteran coach later admitted he should have used the word "challenged" instead of "threatened," but the message was clear: Play better, compete harder, or find yourself dropping on the depth chart.

Thanks to the struggles of Penn State's two inexperienced quarterbacks in the Blue-White spring game, many members of Nittany Nation are in panic mode, wondering whether the Lions will come up with someone decent under center. But offensive coordinator Galen Hall thinks that either of the two sophomores, Kevin Newsome or Matt McGloin, will have what it takes to gain a starting role in time for the Sept. 4 season opener against Youngstown State. "I think the uncertainty makes it more scary than, obviously, if you had a starter coming back, someone that's had some snaps," Hall said Thursday night before an alumni reception.